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Remedies Keyed to Tabb, 8th
Federal Trade Commission v. Trudeau (Trudeau I)
Citation:
579 F.3d 754 (7th Cir. 2009)Facts
Kevin Trudeau had a decade-long history of conflicts with the FTC over deceptive marketing practices. In 2004, he entered a Consent Order that banned him from appearing in infomercials for any products except books, provided he did not misrepresent the book’s content. In 2007, Trudeau promoted his book “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About” through infomercials that repeatedly described the weight loss protocol as “easy,” “simple,” and “inexpensive,” claiming it could be done at home and that afterward dieters could eat “anything you want” with “no restrictions.” However, the book actually prescribed an extremely rigorous four-phase program requiring a 500-calorie-per-day diet, daily injections of prescription hCG hormone (not approved for weight loss), fifteen colonics, consumption of only organic food, avoidance of all medications, and dozens of other strict dietary and lifestyle restrictions lasting indefinitely. Trudeau never mentioned these requirements in the infomercials, instead referring vaguely to a “miracle, magical, all-natural substance.” The FTC filed for contempt, and the district court found Trudeau violated the Consent Order, initially imposing $5.1 million in sanctions and a three-year infomercial ban, later increasing the monetary sanction to $37.6 million.
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